The UK is in the early stages of a Global Energy War, which could last for a long time. We need to prepare for the next 5 years.
THE PRICE CRISIS:
We had a major problem even before the Ukraine war. The growth in heavily subsidised renewable energy has led to over £10 billion of inflation-linked subsidies every year with an extra £5 billion of annual related network operating and balancing costs. This totals £15 billion every year, approximately £500 per household directly or indirectly.
Much of the renewable industry is overseas owned, meaning they are making vast profits at British consumers’ expense. Renewables are unreliable when the wind does not blow, so they need the insurance backup of gas generating capacity, which adds significantly to costs due to duplication. In wartime situations the Government must control the price of critical production like energy. This happened in WW2.
The Reform UK plan works as follows:
• Require all UK energy producers to sell to UK suppliers only at the average 2021 price.
• Domestic cap set to average £2,000 per year.
• Business cap set at maximum 35 pence per kwh.
• Extra help still needed for the most vulnerable .
• The above will exist until normal conditions return and the supply crisis is fixed.
• This transforms the Government finances as it puts the cost on the producer not the taxpayer
The windfall tax would be scrapped as the producers are no longer making windfall profits under this plan. Westminster’s Net Zero plans to send our jobs and money overseas is making us Net Poorer.
THE SUPPLY CRISIS: MORE SUPPLY = LOWER PRICES
Energy security is of strategic national importance and we must be self reliant. We are blessed with vast different energy resources under our feet that can look after us for at least 50 years or more.
We need a National Planning with Local Compensation scheme to accelerate new energy sources:
• Accelerate gas and oil exploration in the North Sea.
• Build High Efficiency Combined Cycle gas turbines.
• Accelerate the commission of the latest nuclear reactors including small modular ones.
• Unlock the vast reserves of shale gas using the latest safest techniques.
• Restart opencast coal mines using the latest cleanest techniques.
• Accelerate Lithium mining in UK to help with electric battery production, instead of relying on less environmentally sound mines overseas.
• No more expensive subsidies for renewables — they must stand on their own merit.
Our Solutions to the Energy Crisis
THE REFORM UK PLAN WILL:
• Save huge amounts of emissions by using our own energy treasure compared with the extra CO2 created when importing energy from overseas.
• Save and create many thousands of British jobs in the regions.
• Save households and businesses money.
This is the best and easiest way to unlock vast wealth in the ground for the benefit of us all. We should establish a Sovereign Wealth fund from this, as Norway did so successfully. Reform UK will create a new win-win model of UK ownership of critical national infrastructure.
Certain key utilities including parts of the energy market should be 50% in public ownership to reduce consumer costs and stop overseas ownership of our critical national infrastructure.
The other 50% would be owned by UK pension funds. This will enable a win-win situation, with consumers benefiting from lower prices, the taxpayer benefitting during good years and all benefiting from better management of private sector expertise brought in by the pension funds.
The Government’s current Net Zero plans are destroying British jobs , sending them overseas, especially to China and are leading to huge increases in domestic bills every year to pay to overseas-owned energy firms. This is both unacceptable and unnecessary.
Be under no doubt, Westminster’s Net Zero makes us Net Poorer.
